Shades of Red
by King of Infinite Space
Summary: It's been several years since they were taken from her, but Blossom's rage still burns red hot. Brick spends his time doubting himself and his course in life, and wonders often what could of been. When a heist goes South due to a certain red-haired super heroine, what will Brick and his brothers do?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yo! This is a revision of the story, "A Brighter Future and a Better Life" by King of Ramen. The story has been on the site since 2008 or so, and I finally decided to come back to it. You got it, folks. It's-a-me! King of Ramen! Under my new pename, King of Infinite Space, I intend to revisit my old story and make it into something awesome. I hope that you guys like the new writing style I've adopted as I've grown these past several years. It's been a hectic time for me. School, got married, dad died, and some other junk. Anyway, enough about me! This story will eventually blossom (Tee-hee!) into a romance between Brick and Blossom. I'm not exactly sure how that's going to happen yet, but it will. Also, this story is not for the faint of heart. Buttercup and Bubbles are dead in this time-line. I mean really and truly dead and gone. They're not coming back, no one is going to meet their ghost, and there's not going to be a flashback. They're just not in this story because they are stone cold dead. I don't hate them, it's just how things went when I was writing this. That's it for me! Enjoy the story! (Leave a review? Flames and praise welcome in equal measure. )

Brick found himself pondering the meaning of his existence, while he and his two brothers burst through the glass display window in the front of Electric Dreams. The store had just opened last week and Boomer, the blonde airhead, had seen a massive plasma screen that he just had to have. So, here they were, breaking and entering for the hundredth time in their criminal careers. Boomer went straight for the T.V. on display, instead of taking one still in the box.

Brick heaved a mighty sigh, his broad shoulders slumping downward and his arms drooping at his sides. The red-haired villain shook his head from side to side, his long ponytail swinging back and forth through the air. He really did think of his brother as an idiot, sadly, but he did care enough not to tell him so. Well, at least most of the time.

Boomer had a huge grin on his face, his eyes sparkling with excitement from both the robbery and the new T.V. Brick had almost forgotten about the clerk behind the counter and hadn't seen any of the sales assosciates anywhere in the store. Just as he began to grow suspicious, he saw something that he wished he hadn't. Blossom, the red-haired bitch, was standing behind the counter with a bemused expression on her face.

Brick had to admit, if only to himself, that she looked pretty when she wasn't chasing him and his brothers through the city. He had to wonder how she could of known that they would rob this place, but then, she'd always been 'the smart one.'

"Hey, boys. So, you were planning to pay for that, right?" Her voice was lilting and melodic, and it was all Brick could do to just shake his head in a negative response. Of course they weren't planning to pay for it, but she knew that. Brick's dumbfounded expression and sudden halt eventually managed to get the attention of Butch.

The dark-haired and muscular teenaged boy let his emerald gaze move slowly from Brick's shocked expression. He tracked his leader's line of sight until his eyes landed on Blossom. Immediately, he released a frustrated scream of anger before shouting at her. "You bitch! How did you know?! You always know!" Butch was clenching his fists and his thick arms shook with rage and tension from his coiled muscles.

Boomer, always late on the uptake, finally realized who it was that Brick and Butch were looking at. His cerulean orbs grew comically large on his rounded face as he stared at something that, to his mind, should be impossible. There was a long and pregnant pause that followed, but was broken by Boomer. Blossom's red gaze had gone from bemused and playful, and was now hard and unflinching as steel. "That's not fair, man! No way! No way she knew! We even waited a whole week, just to make sure!" Boomer whined pitifully, like a spoiled child being denied what they so desperately craved.

Brick zipped his red windbreaker up over his simple white tee and set his mouth in a grim and determined line. He turned his head slightly so that he could look behind him with his peripheral while still keeping an eye on Blossom. "Butch. Boomer. Run." They ran. More to the point, they took flight. Streaks of light lingered in the air from their travel, a dark green and a deep blue, before dissipating seconds later. Blossom began to shake her head slowly from side to side, a smirk growing upon her soft, pink lips. Was that gloss? Brick wasn't sure, but he was certain that the next few minutes were going to be very painful.

"Oh, Brick... You know you can't take me on your own. I'm going to beat the snot out of you, and then I'm going to kick the crap out of your stupid brothers." Blossom spoke with an ease and confidence that chilled Birck to his core, then stepped out from behind the glass counter, taking her time and moving with a casual grace. She was dressed in the usual manner, which was a sexy red number with a plunging neckline and a hem that only just made it a few inches below her hips. Of course, she was sensible enough to wear some black leggings under it. Further down her long, toned thighs and strong calves, she wore black Mary Jane's on her dainty feet.

Motion caught Brick's attention and snapped him out of his daze, a curling finger that indicated he should look up. Flushed red with embarrassment, the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys quickly brought his crimson eyes back up to meet Blossom's own. A coy smile pulled at the corners of her lips, and for a moment, he thought she would let it slide. It was the casual nature of the encounter that had put him at ease, making him think that maybe he could talk his way out of this. "Look, Red... I just want to say that this wasn't my idea. It's all Boomer's fault. I was just-"

Blossom cut him off suddenly, her voice taking a quick turn toward sharp and cold. "Taking care of your brothers, right? Just like you guys took care of **them**?" There were tears forming in the corners of Blossom's big eyes, and Brick knew they were not tears of pain or sadness. These were tears of rage, as only women can make them. Blossom leaned forward slightly, then was gone. In the next instant, faster than Brick's eyes could follow, the red-headed wonder was right in front of him.

"Shi-" Brick didn't even manage to utter the entire curse before her fist collided with his abdomen. Brick released a massive whoosh of air from his lungs, spittle flying from his lips. Brick, in that brief moment, wondered if she might kill him this time. In that single blow, Blossom had decisively declared her dominance in this fight.

Blossom wasn't completely in her right mind, her normally calculating personality overided by her rage and her pain. Bent at the waist with her right fist buried in Brick's stomach, it was an easy thing for her to spin about on her heels and deliver an upward arcing roundhouse to Brick's chin as she rose. Brick was lifted into the air and off his feet, slamming up through the ceiling of the store and high into the air above the city. The impact into his chin would have taken a human's head from their body, but Brick was no human.

Brick could, however, taste blood, and he knew right away that he was missing a tooth, if not several. She'd never hit him that hard before **it** had happened. That fateful day had changed everything in the city of Townsville. Brick found himself still sailing through the air, his back facing the ground, when Blossom seemed to materialize from thin air in front of him. He knew she hadn't teleported only because of the loud boom that followed almost immediately after her appearance. She was just that fast. Blossom flipped forward through the air above him, and her heel came down into his sternum in a high-arcing moonkick that sent him crashing into the ground at incredible speed. The very pavement gave under the force of his landing, a crater forming around him so deep that he could not be seen at the bottom of it until he pushed the rubble off himself.

By the time he had moved the half-ton slab of asphalt off himself, Blossom was already hovering over him. Her arms were folded under her large bust, heaving them upward a little. He would of admired the view further, but Blossom was far from finished. Her eyes began to glow with power, the red light becoming brighter and brighter. Even under the noon-day sun, Brick felt that her eyes put the daylight to shame. This was to be his sentence. Only in death, could Brick atone for the sins of his murderous brothers. The red-haired male closed his eyes and released a long, choking sigh. Blood poured from his lips and down his chin. "Do it." Long gone was the arrogant, cocky tone he once held in every word. Now he sounded ragged, beaten, and lost in self-pity and despair.

Brick waited and waited, searing agony arcing through his entire body as he laid in the rubble of his future grave. He waited for the sensation of burning. He waited for the finishing blow. Instead, what followed was the most shocking moment of his entire life. "I can't." Blossom whispered. Despite all her rage and her deep despair at the loss of what she once held so dear, she could not bring herself to finish him. Blossom, unlike Butch and Boomer, would not kill. "I want to... I just can't." Brick, cautiously, opened one eye.

Blossom was crying. More than that, she was openly weeping in silence. Deep sobs wracked her body, causing her to shake visibly. She held in her cries of anguish and emotional turmoil, but only just. Brick, unsure of what to do, could only watch in awe. Finally, after several tense seconds, he managed to stand himself up. His red jogging pants were ripped to shreds from the knees down and his windbreaker was little more than a smattering of rags over his white tee-shirt. He was bleeding in several places over his body, and in one case, quite severely. Brick turned his attention, slowly, from the weeping heroine to his left arm. There was a piece of steel rebar buried in his upper arm, piercing all the way through.

Brick grunted as the extreme pain of his injuries suddenly caught up with him and he swooned. Black spots danced in his vision and his knees quivered. He thought that surely he would black out at any second, but the supervillian was not one to give up easily. Blossom's eyes were closed as she wept, tears pouring down her cheeks and running off her chin. Her fists were still clenched tightly at her sides, so Brick felt uneasy about what he was going to do. Still, he knew he had to do it. If he didn't, who would?

Blossom's weeping halted suddenly and her breath hitched in her chest. Warmth flooded her core as two strong arms wrapped around her upper body. She felt herself being pulled forward, and her eyes opened to see what was happening. Brick slipped his arms fully around the teenaged girl in front of him and, finding no resistance yet, pulled her firmly against his chest. He grunted in pain as the steel rebar in his arm poked against Blossom's side. He wanted to lower his arm, but he couldn't afford the risk. "Brick... What?" Blossom muttered quietly, her voice soft and child-like in her dazed state.

Brick didn't answer her, but instead moved his good arm upward until his hand was able to rest against the back of her head. His hands slipped into her dark red locks, so lusterous and perfect, and he cradled the broken-hearted girl against him. He could feel her breasts pressed to his muscular, hard chest. He could feel her heartbeat and the rise and fall of her breathing. The entire city seemed to go quiet in that moment, frozen in time. "Blossom... I'm sorry." Brick spoke so quietly that if Blossom didn't have her super hearing, she would of missed it.

Blossom stopped breathing. She found suddenly that she had forgotten how to perform even the most basic life functions at that particular moment. Her mind, however brilliant, went blank. The lack of any response didn't last long. To the shock of the teen boy holding her against him, Blossom didn't yell, scream, kick, punch, or laser him with her eyes. The lonely, broken girl could only lift her hands and grab at his shirt. She held the fabric tightly in her fists and while her tone was angry, it seemed not to be directed precisely at him. "You didn't do it. **They** did it. Those bastard brothers of yours... They... They took my sisters from me!" Blossom wailed that last word, her cry long and keening. Once again, she fell apart into wracking sobs and a seemingly endless stream of tears.

Brick shook his head and Blossom could feel the motion, even as she buried her face in his chest, letting his shirt soak up her tears. "I didn't kill them myself, but that doesn't make me any less responsible. I should of stopped them. I should of realized how far they were taking things, before it got out of hand. I'm their leader. It's my job to keep them under control. I should of tu-"

For the third time that afternoon, Brick was interrupted. This time, he wasn't silenced with words, but by Blossom's sudden iron grip on his throat. Her eyes were burning with fury and hatred, and Brick finally understood, just a little, what it was that she was going through. With ease unexpected of her slender frame, she lifted the boy by his throat until his red sneakers were held above the ground. "I should kill them both. You don't quite deserve to die, but they do. You're going to tell me where they are hiding, Brick. I already know that you will. Save yourself some pain, and just tell me now."

Brick's dark red eyes widened as he looked into her lighter red gaze and saw murder. He recognized the look as soon as he saw it, because he'd seen that same look on Butch's face on several occasions, and once in Boomer. Brick tried to speak, but found that Blossom's grip was too tight. Actually, he wasn't breathing so good either. Brick found, with some amount of panic, that he couldn't even cough or gag. Blossom was already crushing his windpipe, and while he could hold his breath for a lot longer than a human, he couldn't hold out forever. Blood was still dripping from his mouth and his left arm, and once again he began to see spots in his vision.

Blossom dropped the boy to the ground, watching him crumple into a pathetic heap at her feet. Her rage made her strong, but she knew she wouldn't kill Brick. She didn't have it in her to kill, with two exceptions that would soon be dealt with. Brick surprised her, however, when he spoke against her. She'd always thought him to have a very self-serving nature. "Blossom... Shit..." He coughed a couple of times, and blood spattered onto her legs from his kneeling positon at her feet. He looked up at her, wincing in pain as he spoke. "Blossom, no. You can't. Once you kill someone, it only gets easier. You'll start to think of it as a permanent solution to your problems. First them, then Him for bringing us back? Maybe Mojo after that? He created us, so why not? Maybe next you'll kill the Proffessor? He made Mojo. Is it his fault too, then?"

Blossom held her peace, surprisingly, until Brick paused in his attempt at reasoning. Her eyes still shone like two hard and unforgiving rubies. Her red bangs shaded her eyes slightly as she looked down at the teen now at her mercy, making her look even more menacing and dark. "No, Brick. Just them. They're the only ones that deserve to die."

Brick, angered by the threat against his brothers, stood up and glared at her with fierce determination, despite his condition. "If you want them, you'll have to go through me. They're my brothers. You'd do the same if you were me." Brick nodded once, as though to agree with his own words. Unfortunately for Brick, that nod threw off his equilibrium. His head swam and his vision blurred. The spots returned with a vengeance and he swayed a bit on his feet.

Blossom knew he was losing too much blood. It wasn't life-threatening just yet, but it would be soon. She watched him sway on his feet and saw his lids fall half-closed. The whites of his eyes showed for just a bare half of a second, but he recovered through sheer will-power alone. Blossom watched, slightly impressed, as he fought off the darkness clouding the edges of his vision. He was already beaten, but still he refused to give her what she demanded. How much more would his body tolerate before he lost consciousness? The red-headed girl wasn't sure, but felt that it wouldn't be much. She almost laughed at the absurdity of his actions. "Brick... Just tell me. I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have. You need to go the hospital, and then to jail." Of course, she would have to add that second part about jail.

Brick winced at the word, spoken aloud. He hated prison with a deep passion. Blossom had never managed to land all three of the Rowdyruffs in jail at once, and so they'd always been able to break each other out. Still, Brick didn't care for prison one bit. At that moment, the supervillian was struck with inspiration in a moment of epiphany so profound that it gave him a bit of a headache. Or, was that an actual head injury? He wasn't sure, but he felt confident that he had a plan. "Blossom... I'll cut you a deal. Hear me out. If... If I help you bring my brothers in, they're going to jail. You can't kill them if I help you, got it? I'm not breaking them out, this time. They deserve to spend the rest of their lives in there for what they've done." Brick paused to see if his words were having the desired effect, and from the shocked expression on Red's face, he was pretty sure that they were.

Blossom opened her mouth, said nothing, and closed it again. She did this two more times in the span of roughly a minute, seeming to be at a loss for words. She hadn't expected Brick to actually be willing to help her take them down. She didn't feel like she really needed the help, but it would be a much tougher fight without him for sure. Her mind raced through a hundred calculations and differing paths that she could take, but ultimately, she had to admit that his offer sounded like the best plan she'd ever be able to come up with. The only problem was that little promise he wanted her to make. "Don't kill them? Are you joking? After what they did, a thousand years wouldn't be long enough. They need to die."

When had Blossom become such a cold-blooded person? Brick realized immediately that it had happened at the exact moment that her two sisters had stopped breathing. Brick shook his head in a negative response to her words, making sure to move his head as slowly as possible so that he wouldn't pass out. Blossom rolled her eyes before clapping her right hand over her nose and dragging it down her face until it passed down over her chin. She was frustrated and torn between her desire for vengeance and her hesitation to torture Brick for the information she wanted.

It was several seconds before Blossom spoke, and when she did, her voice was quiet and laced with venom. "Fine. You win, Brick. I don't have the stomach for torture anyway. That's a whole different game from simple killing." Brick nodded his head, again being ever so careful, in agreement. "We'll get you patched up over at Townsville Medical, and then you're coming with me to bring in Butch and Boomer. If you bust them out, I'll kill all three of you myself. I'll level mountains, drain lakes, boil the oceans... There will be no place on this Earth for you to hide. You hear me?"

"Yeah, Red, I hear you. You're uh... Gonna have to carry me, though. I'm standing, but I think that if I take a step, I'm just going to fall on my face." Blossom rolled her eyes at Brick's apparent weakness, but in truth she was impressed with his fortitude. The pool of crimson on the ground where he stood, testified to his strength and resolve. Blossom sighed and slid her left arm around behind his back and placed his right arm over her shoulders to support him. To the shock and awe of the city, the two of them floated steadily toward the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

Brick heaved a groan of pain as the surgeon removed the rebar from his arm with precision and care. The doctor flinched a little at the supervillian's sound of discomfort, thinking that surely he'd be blasted into ashes at any moment. Thankfully, Blossom was allowed to stand guard in the O.R. to ensure that the surgeon felt safe. Her bossy tone had returned, and the red-head began to tease her male counterpart at the first sign of weakness. "Stop being such a baby, Brick. It's not that bad."

Brick glared at the red-clad guardian of Townsville, clearly annoyed at her dismissive attitude toward the injuries that she had caused. The surgeon dropped the seven inch length of rebar into a metal tray with a loud clang that called their attention away from each other and back to his injury. An I.V. was embedded in his uninjured arm, pumping precious life back into his veins. He watched the crimson liquid in that clear bag for a moment, seeming to be deep in thought. Brick found that he was having second thoughts about his deal with Blossom. "Blossom... You'll keep your word, right?"

The last Powerpuff scowled at this, looking offended and quite angry. She raised her voice, "Jerk! Unlike you Rowdyruffs, a Powerpuff Girl always stays true to her word. I won't kill them, Brick. At least, so long as they stay in prison this time." The surgeon jerked his head up and looked at Townsville's hero in shock, having never imagined that she might say such a thing. The city tended to look upon the heroine as being a symbol of purity and righteous justice. Blossom ignored him, and he went back to work stitching up Brick's arm.

Brick frowned, realizing that it was his own word that should be doubted, rather than hers. She'd keep her promise only as long as he kept his. Brick squeezed his eyes shut tight as he tried desperately not to imagine the betrayed looks he would soon be receiving from his brothers. They'd never understand why he had to do it. "Blossom... If it meant that your sisters would hate you for the rest of their natural lives, would you have still saved them?" While such a question of morals would prove to be an easy answer for Blossom, it was a difficult choice for the less righteous Brick.

"Of course I would. They're... They were... My sisters. I'd do anything to bring them back, but that's not going to happen. I accepted that a long time ago." Blossom sighed and her expression softened with what might of been sympathy. "Besides, in fifty years, your brothers might get out if they behave really, really well. Maybe their anger will dissipate with time."

Brick could only laugh at such a ridiculous notion. His brothers were not the type to forgive or forget. Well, maybe Boomer, but certainly not Butch. The doctor announced that he was finished, and informed them that Brick could leave as soon as the I.V. ran out. Brick sat up from the metal table and swung his legs over the side, kicking them idly in the air under him and looking at the floor.

It took almost an hour for the bag to run out, and during that time neither of them said anything to the other. Each was too caught up in their own thoughts to make conversation. Brick wondered if he was making the right choice. He'd been doubting his course in life ever since his brothers had killed their color coordinated counterparts. Brick had found that he just didn't have the stomach for killing. Surprisingly, it wasn't in him. He looked up at Blossom and remembered a time when the red-clad super heroine would never of considered murder. That was back when the world made sense.

Blossom pondered her choices up to this point, and even now was considering just putting her fist through his chest and being done with it. She was pretty sure that she could make a clean kill, and he probably wouldn't even have a chance to feel anything if she got his heart. As the red-head was contemplating these murderous thoughts, she saw something that shocked her to her core. A single tear made it's way from Brick's right eye and down over his cheek before falling to the floor. Another followed after the first, and then another. An expression of incredulous disbelief painted itself on her face, and she asked in a condescending tone, "Brick? Are you... Crying?"

Hot tears now poured from Brick's weary and deeply pained red eyes. He turned suddenly to look away from Blossom, finding the wall a more appealing thing to look at. He muttered a half-hearted, "Of course not." Unfortunately, his voice choked and cracked on the words as he found himself on the verge of sobbing. Brick was soon going to give up the only real family he had ever known, sentencing them to life in prison. If it was between prison and death, he knew what he would choose for them. It was a simple choice, but not an easy one. He also found that he was lamenting the loss of the other two Powerpuffs, for now that he was soon to lock his brothers away, he had a much better understanding of what Blossom was enduring, even now.

Brick sniffled and seemed genuinely upset, but Blossom still wasn't totally convinced. She frowned, because the sight of Brick openly weeping severely altered her black and white, cookie-cutter vision of the world at large. Bad guys are evil, good guys are good. That's how it had always been in the city of Townsville and she liked it that way. Now Brick was changing that pattern and it deeply disturbed her. Did any of the other villains of Townsville ever feel the depths of despair that Brick seemed to be going through right now? It did not make him or any of the rest of them any less guilty, but it did make them more human. "Well, since you're not crying, take out that I.V. and let's go."

Brick ceased his pitiable crying and turned to look at the red-headed girl beside him. His red eyes were still watery and the whites of his eyes looked irritated from his crying. "You're right. Let's go." Instead of waiting for the doctor, Brick ripped the needle from his arm, then stood up and began walking toward the exit of the Operating Room. He paused in the doorway and looked back over his shoulder as Blossom paused to thank the doctor for his work, then resumed following him. They walked through the halls of the hospital together, Brick leading the way.

The moment they stepped out the main entrance of the ER, Brick turned full body so that he was facing the Powerpuff. "Blossom... If you tell anyone about what happened in there, I swear..." Brick gritted his teeth and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. A blush tinged his cheeks, and though his eyes were still red from his tears, his crimson eyes bore only a deadly threat. It was one that he actually doubted he could follow through on, however.

Blossom, being her usual bossy, no non-sense self, smirked and shook her head in dismay. "Don't worry, Brick. I won't tell anyone that you bawled like a little baby." Her tone was teasing and condescending, but it was the only assurance he was going to get. Without another word, Blossom took off into the sky. Brick watched the pink trail of light fade slightly for a moment before taking off himself to follow her in a similar streak of red light.

The flight was short and uneventful. Brick pulled ahead of Blossom and she allowed him to do so, since he was the only one that knew where his brothers were holed up. It took almost five minutes for them to arrive, and when they stopped they were looking at a large, dark cave set into the side of a mountain, facing away from the city. Brick held up his right hand, signaling that Blossom should wait. "Let me bring them out, and you surprise them from above. Quick and clean." Brick whispered his plan.

Blossom nodded her head in agreement and watched as Brick slowly floated down toward the ledge jutting out slightly in front of the cave. He looked back at Blossom, and watched as she slowly flew up above the entrance of the cave and hid behind a boulder. Brick nodded his head when he saw a small hand-mirror peek out from behind the side of the boulder. It was a nice touch, allowing her to see around the side of the boulder.

In her mirror, Blossom watched Brick walk into the cave and nodded her head briefly, keeping an eye on the entrance. Some time passed, and Blossom watched as her shadow grew slightly longer. With her microscopic vision, she was able to track the movement of her shadow and perfectly measure the time with various calculations in her head. When it had been about twenty-six minutes, give or take a few seconds, she realized that the time Brick had spent in the cave was longer than the cave should logically be if the boys were using it as a dwelling.

At about that time, just as Blossom was drawing back the focus of her eyes to the normal range of vision, she sensed something wrong. "Gotcha!" She heard the word at the exact same moment that she felt a huge explosion of pain in the back of her head. With the suddenness of a bolt of lightning, Blossom's vision went dark.

Brick stood triumphantly next to his two brothers, floating above the ground where Blossom had been crouched just a moment ago. Steam was coiling upward from Brick's hands, which were still clasped together and low to the ground from the end of his swing. A hammer-fist from the super-powered teen straight to the back of Blossom's head was sadly more than she could take, and she now laid helplessly unconscious in a crater some thousand miles below the entrance of the false hide out.

Butch clapped his brother on the back and Boomer gave a joyous shout of praise, pumping his fist in the air. "Holy cow, Brick! You got her good! Think she's dead?" Butch grinned wolfishly as he stared down Blossom in her crater. She still had not moved at all. Butch's face fell, however, when his red-haired brother shook his head.

Boomer nodded his agreement with Brick's negative response and spoke up, though his voice was quieter and a bit more relaxed than Butch. "Nah, no way. Blossom is way too tough for one good punch to kill her, even if it was Brick that delivered it."

Brick straightened his back to stand tall once again and let his hands fall to his sides. He ignored his brothers and slowly began to float down toward the unconscious Blossom. Butch and Boomer had already begun to argue between themselves over something, but Brick wasn't paying attention. All of his concentration was focused on the sleeping red-head on the ground. He landed on the edge of the crater and narrowed his eyes, watching the rise and fall of her chest. It was deep and rhythmic, so she did appear unconscious. However, Brick was not convinced. He stepped down into the small crater, causing a few rocks to slide down the side and land on Blossom.

She twitched her left arm and both her legs a little, coughed, and gave a groan of pain. Brick nearly had a heart attack. Moving with speed and ruthlessness, he zipped down to the bottom of the crater by flying and grabbed Blossom's head in his hand as best he could, fingers splayed out wide over her face. Her eyes snapped open and he could already see her building rage mixed with confusion and a light concussion. He pulled her head up by several inches so that it lifted from the ground, before smashing it back into the bottom of the crater.

The crater deepened and a shock-wave stirred up the dust on the ground, making a rolling ring of it glide across the ground around them. Brick pulled her head up again and Blossom placed her hands on his wrist. Her eyes began to glow, but Brick wasn't willing to call the plan a failure yet. She was still very dazed and sluggish in her movements, floating on the edge of unconsciousness. She just needed another push. He slammed her head into the ground again, though this time the blow was softer as she was able to slow him down a little by her grip on his wrists.

Blossom was indeed very confused. She was unsure of where she was, or who the person was that was slamming her head into the ground. She was trying to remember, but the man in red slammed her head into the ground again and again. Finally, after the fifth impact, she felt her arms lose all their strength and they fell away from the man's arm. He smashed her head into the bottom of the deepening crater one last time, and the resulting impact roared across the land like a boom of thunder. Blossom finally slipped away into the dark.

Brick nodded, his eyes watching her breathing and the movement of her eyes behind her eyelids. Finally, he released her head from his grasp and stood up again, moving to get off of her stomach where he had been kneeling. "Damn, that bitch is tough." He didn't smile, though both Butch and Boomer chuckled and agreed with him readily.

Brick then turned to look at his two brothers, both of them wearing windbreakers and sweats to match his own but in their own colors. "Alright, you two. Enough gawking. Get her back to Mojo's old lab and do it quick. I'm going to go let the boss know that we got her."

Butch groaned and floated down into the crater to stand next to his leader, and Boomer followed suit to stand on Brick's opposite side. It was Boomer that voiced his protest, however. "Aw, come on. Can't I come with you? Why do I have to carry her all the way back to town? Muscle-head can totally handle it."

Brick turned and glared with an intense rage at Boomer and backhanded him across his left cheek. He lowered his head slightly, causing his eyes to darken as he stared Boomer down. "Because I fucking said so, that's why. Besides, you know the boss's rule."

"Yeah, stupid! Only one of us can be there at a time. Otherwise, we get nuked." Butch smirked as he gloated over his blond brother, and Boomer glared back at him while rubbing his cheek. Without another word, the two of them each threw one of Blossom's arms over their broad shoulders and carried her back toward Townsville. Brick turned to look at the slowly setting sun and heaved a great sigh before taking off toward the east, away from the sun and into the night.

As Brick flew, he began to wonder if he was truly doing the right thing. He and his brothers were in deep, but if Blossom wasn't going to be killed then surely there was little harm in doing what the old man said, right? He certainly didn't want to get "nuked" as Butch had put it, and he didn't want that to happen to his brother's either. He crossed the ocean swiftly, moving toward an island not far from the city, by the standard of flight. It was little more than a single, barren rock floating out in a wide expanse of ocean. By the time Brick arrived, darkness had arrived in full.

He peered around as he landed, making sure that no one was watching, before opening a hidden metal hatch under a large boulder, trivial for him to lift though it weighed at least half a ton. Brick opened the hatch, slipped through the trap door, and let the rock fall back into place, closing the metal hatch. He flew downwards then, moving quickly down the shaft. Lamps set into the steel wall flashed by him as he moved, ignoring the steel ladder.

When at last, he had reached the bottom, the red-haired leader of the Rowdyruffs found himself standing at the beginning of a large, sprawling cave which had been converted into a hi-tech secret lair. There was a large set of monitors across the dark, dank cave. On those monitors, Brick could see Butch and Boomer standing in front of a large clear tube which held a silently screaming Blossom. No matter how much she pounded on the glass, it seemed that she just couldn't break it. A large, luxurious-looking leather chair was placed before those monitors, the tall back facing Brick and the figure that sat within, seemed to be staring at the screens.

Slowly, the chair swiveled around, and within it sat the most despicable villain Brick had ever known in his life. Master of Darkness, The Master of Masters, The Deliverer of Darkness, The Shogun of Sorrow, Shape Shifting Master of Darkness... Aku. With his flame-wreathed eyes so filled with Malice and hate and his slender, tall, black body, Aku stood from his comfortable seat and slowly floated his way over to the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys. A long, clawed, black hand reached out and patted the teen on his head, ignoring his scowl of discomfort. "Very good, young Rowdyruff! You and your brothers have pleased Aku greatly! You will all be handsomely... Rewarded." He hissed the final word like the serpent he was, his eyes narrowing while his green lips curled upward in horrible glee. "Now, there is much work to be done. Now that the pesky super hero has been removed, I can move into the ape's old laboratory to enjoy a much more strategic position than is offered here, on this barren rock."

Brick huffed and folded his arms across his chest as the demon ranted in his moment of triumph, as all great villains do. Brick interrupted his dark master, however. "Lord Aku... Why do you want Townsville so badly, anyway? With your great power, couldn't you just take the world by force?"

Aku laughed long and raucously, a grating sound with little mirth or joy in it. The demon bent down at what might of been his waist until he was at eye level with the red-head, and far too close for Brick's comfort. He spoke quietly, as though sharing a great secret. "Conquering the world might be within my grasp, if I only stand against the armies of man-kind. However, there are many in this world who possess, like you, great powers and abilities. There are none more dangerous than the lone Powerpuff Girl, but their number is enough that if they rose up against me together, they would become a most serious threat to my plans. Noooo... I learned once before, long ago, that to truly own this world, you must be subtle and slow."

Aku straightened himself to his full height once again, towering over Brick. He made his way back toward the monitors, fearlessly turning his back on Brick. "Go, now. The Great Aku must continue making preparations for dear Blossom's... Conversion."

Brick bowed slightly, knowing the demon would sense it if he did not, and took off in a streak of red light, heading back up the shaft. Aku's horrible, haunting laughter followed him all the way up to accompany his troubled thoughts. Brick wondered what the demon meant by 'conversion' and what it would do to Blossom. These thoughts, and others, troubled him all the way back to Townsville.


End file.
